https://arab.news/8wqag
- The ban was instituted after PIA air crash in May 2020 which was followed by a fake pilot license scandal
- EU’s Aviation Safety Agency says it is ‘not in a position to provide any information related to the status of PIA’
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would resume its operations in Europe with two weekly flights to Paris in June and July, the airline’s chief executive officer said on Monday, years after the national flag carrier was barred from operating flights to Europe.
PIA flights to Europe and the UK have been suspended since 2020 after the EU’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) revoked the national flag carrier’s authorization to fly to the bloc following a pilot license scandal that rocked the country.
The issue, which followed a plane crash in May 2020 that killed nearly a hundred people, had resulted in the grounding of 262 of Pakistan’s 860 pilots, including 141 of PIA’s 434.
“We hope we will commence our bi-weekly flights for Paris in the June or July timeframe. We are very hopeful about it,” said PIA CEO Muhammad Amir Hayat, while responding to questions during a Facebook Live.
“All our pre-operation formalities are complete, we just await final clearance, and as soon as we get it, we will start.”
Soon after the ban was imposed, Hayat said, PIA began compiling deliverables, systematically providing evidence to EASA, and telling the European agency the airline was safety-compliant.
“In March 2023, they conducted an online audit, and from my perspective, it was clear to them as they conducted the online audit that they would come for a physical audit, and they would be assured that we are at the level where they can confirm the audit,” Hayat said, adding the physical audit was conducted in November.
“In December, we received their confirmation that they accepted our deliverables. However, along with that, there are also some deliverables from the Civil Aviation Authority for which the CAA is in touch with them.”
For direct flights to the UK, Hayat said, an independent audit would have to be conducted post-Brexit.
“We have uploaded all the requirements on their portal. According to a careful estimate, after receiving clearance from EASA, the process should take two to three months,” he said. “We hope to achieve the goals of UK and European flights this year.”
Reached for confirmation, an EASA spokesperson told Arab News via email that the agency was “not in a position to provide any information related to the status of PIA.”
The spokesperson advised contacting PIA or the Pakistani CAA for information regarding any developments.
Pakistan is also set to privatize the national airline, which has been facing a financial crisis for the last several years, by June and July as part of the requirements set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But no significant progress has been on that front made due to various reasons, including the suspension of the airline’s flights to Europe.